Wheel balance checking apparatus



Oct. 17, 1950 LE ROY v. JACOBSEN El AL 2,526,434

' WHEEL BALANCE CHECKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1947 F I E E INVENTOR-S LEROY V. J/ICOEJEN I (1.6. Go 5 P 5 5g;

Oct. 17, 1950 LE ROY v. JACOBSEN El AL WHEEL BALANCE CHECKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 11, i947 INVENTORS y V. Jncoasm 6.6. Go Sums LE R0 Patented Oct. 17, 1950 Le Roy V. Jacobsen, nea

Gilbert G. Go' Sline, R

to Bee-Line Company,

copartnership r Bette'ndorf, Iowa; and ck Island, 111., assignors Scott. County, Iowa, a

Application February 11, 1947; Serial No. 727,790

Our invention relates to apparatus 1 for and method of balancing motor vehicle wheels and among the objects thereof are the provision of an improved apparatus for the purpose stated; the provision'of improved apparatus'for indicating, when determining dynamic unbalance of a wheel, the approximate location of the unbalanced weight; the provision, in an apparatus of the character indicated, of means for indicating the amount of weight which needs to be added to a wheel to correct dynamic unbalance; and such further objects, advantages, and capabilities as will hereafter appear and as are inherent in the construction disclosed herein. Our invention further resides in the combination, construction, and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and, while we have shown therein what is now regarded as the preferred embodiment of this invention, we desire the same to be understood as illustrative only and not to be interpreted in a limiting sense.

In the drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof,

Fig. 1 represents a vehicle front axle and its attached wheels, in front elevation;

Fig. 2 represents a side view of a vehicle front wheel supported above the ground, said view illustrating the first stepin the process of balancing a wheel, namely, the correction of static unbalance;

Fig. 3 illustrates the step of spinning a wheel,

which constitutes one step-in correcting dynamic unbalance of a vehicle wheel;

Fig. 4 isa side elevation corresponding to Fig. 3 and shows the next step in the method of correcting dynamic unbalance; 1

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing what happens during the testing of a wheel for dynamic unbalance;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan View, on an enlarged scale, of a part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5;

r Fig. '7 is a side elevation illustrating how weights are placed when correcting dynamic unbalance;

Fig. 8 representsa central vertical section substantially along the plane indicated by the line 8-8, Fig. 4, with the wheel omitted; and

7 Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the upper part of the apparatus shown in Fig.8, looking at the'left side thereof.. l

Reference will now be made in greater detail to the annexed drawings for a more complete de-' scription of this invention. In checking the ba1- ante of vehicle wheels, it has been the usual p'rac .5 Claims. (01.73-66) tice to remove the wheels from the spindles and place them on a machine by means of which they could be caused to s'pin rapidly. Removing the wheel from the spindle separates it"from thespindle sible errors into unbalance. In addition tol this, an "advantage which is gained by checking" the wheel'in place on the spindle is the time-saving which is made by not having to remove and replace the'wheels. -As is'apparent from Fig. -1, the front axle 'of the vehicle is raised and supported sothat-the wheels are clear of the floor-or runways upon which the checking may be done, or any'other supporting medium upon which the vehicle may be. In Fig. -1 the axle I isshown as supported upon a'pair of jacks 2, but any other convenient support may beused, as desired. If the brakes are released so that the wheels 3' are free to turn, any unbalancedweight of the tires will cause them to turn until the'heavy part of the tire isatthe bottom. When the wheel comes to rest, the

unbalanced weight, indicated diagrammatically at 4, will be at the bottom- A static balance Weight, indicated at 5, is then attached to the wheel rim directly above the spindle. It is customary to make this application temporary so that weights of differentamounts may be applied to the rim until-the required amount has been found. When this'has been-done, the wheel may be turned-about itsspindle toany position,

as indicated in Fig. 2- by the broken lines 4a, and, Y whenit is stopped in' any position and left'free' to turn, it will remain" stationary-provided the proper amount'of weight has been added. If it does not'remain stationary, this indicates that either not enough or' too -much weight has been added. Whenthe wheel'iremains stationary-in any positionrtojwhich it may'be turned, then staticbzilancehas beenzatta-inedand one may proceed .with the checkin'g'of dynamic balance.

' :For'a description of this,we now: refer to Fig. 3 and the vfollowing figures. In order to avoid confusion, no'static balance Weightis shown in these figures; itbeing assumed. .that the wheel motor, provided with :a tire-contacting driving. pulley, as indicated at 6,:'is now run into'p'osition with the drivingpulley in contact with the tread ofthe tire, and this motor is set into operation to. cause spinning of "the wheel 3 about its spindle =1. When the wheel is spinning sufficiently rapidly, the motor with the pulley 6 is withdrawn and the'wheel is permitted tocon, tinue spinning-"The checking-apparatus, shown and brake drum, thus introducingpos-' the determination of the whe'el statically. A suitable 3 in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 8, is then put into position with the ball 8, on the short end of lever 9, located in a depression in the end of the spindle 1. Therefore, if there is any lateral wobble of the wheel, causing corresponding motion of the spindle, such motion will be transmitted to the lever 9 which is pivoted on the pivot member I0, mounted in the bottom of the housing II. Secured to the second end of this lever I I is a pointer I2 which travels over a scale I3 mounted on the top of the housing.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 6, there is a slot I I in the housing top. whicl1 permits the pointer I2 to swing back and forthwiththe vibration of the spindle. A scale I3 .is marked on a plate I5 provided with an arcuate slot I6 through which extend rivets or pins I1, the

function of which is to guide the ure I5 in its" lateral movement on the housing II. This plate is provided with a handle I8 by means of which tmarbe m n ed- ...Th purpose o th is to, n1a l;e possible the easy adjustment of the plate since it is desirable to have the pointer swing equal distances on opposite sides of the zero line or swing entirely upon one side of the zero. l ne... .I .-Eis.-...6..t e pointeri smshown n solid lines as pointingto the zero of the scale I3 and in broken lines to l on each side of zero. These graduations on, the plate I5 indicate ounces, of weight to be added to the wheel to produce dynamic balance thereof. When the pointer swings on both sides of zero, it is necessary to .takethe sumnf thesereadings in order to determine the .amountof weight to be added to the wheel. .In the example shown inFig. 6, fourteen ounces (1 4 oz.) of vweight would be required, sincethe pointer is shown as swinging to, the seven-ounce line, on each side of zero. on the other hand,. if the amount ofcorrection is, small, for examplelsomewhere between one J and seven ounces,.the plate I5 can be moved to one side. or the. other, until the limit of. motion of the pointer in one direction is zero. Then the figure indicatingtheiimit of motion in the oppositedirection will-be the number of ounces of weight. to be... added to the wheel to produce dynamicbalance.

.As shown in Fig. 8, the, housing II is mounted on .a .support andthe two are, secured togetherto move..simultaneously. Beneath this support 20 areslideways 2I which are connected td uthev upper. end of the screw-threaded stand,- ard.22 and .preventthesupport 20 and housing IIMfrom-tilting laterallyv but, at thesame time, permitthem to slidelongitudinally so that the ball 8 may be inserted intothe depression in the endcoi thespindl .'.-.A.pair; oi arms Rand, extenddownwardlyirom.the support 20, and these arms are provided with openings. for the reception of the screw 25. ;The forward end ,26 of thisscrew is smooth and is rotatable in the hole. thnoughtheann 2.3.. ,Theother endportion of the..screw .,25 is screw-threaded, and the arm..24;.is likewise, threaded so that thelscrew passes therethrough to.cause motion of .ltranslationof the support. ,20jand housing IL with reference. to. the .supportingfpost 22.. A-pin eX- te'ndingthrough thelstandard or'post 22 and ,a groove intheusmooth. portion 26 ,of,the, screw prevent 'endwise. motion of the screw with relation. tothe standard whereby. to,.caus.e motion Ofethehead, that is,. h ousing II and support 29, with relation to the post 22.

The base 28 is heavy enough to normally'prevent this tool from being tipped over inadvertently. As indicated above, the standard 22 is screw-threaded and has a nut 29 mounted thereon for vertical adjustment of the standard, together with the gauge mounted on the upper end thereof. A set screw 30 passes into the upper portion of the housing and engages the standard 22 to prevent motion thereofrelative to the base after the instrument hasbeen properly set for determining the dynamic unbalance of the wheel.

, When the amount of weight needed has been determined, weights are added to opposite faces of the rim, upon opposite sides of the spindle, as

. indicated at 3! and 32 in Fig. '7. The use of two weights is necessary in order to prevent disturb ance of the static balance of the wheel which would occur if only one weight were used in correcting dynamic unbalance. It is necessary that these weights be of equal amounts, upon opposite sides of the wheel, and the same distance from the spindle, so as to reduce wobbling thereof, as ea asi i e o r r In order to indicate that part of the wheel which has the greatest lateral vibration, an arm 33, carrying a marker 34, is mounted on the side of the support 2% and, as shown in Fig. 5, extends ntva roxi atc rp ra l to ther e p the wheel. The marker 34 is adjustabl along the arm 33 to position it properly with relation to the wheel, since wheels are Qfdlfiel'llt sizes. The marker 34 may be a, suitable crayon, pencil, or otherv marking device, and is so positioned that itwill make as short mark as convenient on the sideof the wheel. v v v The kingpin or the wheel insures thatthe wobble ofthe wheelwill be in an approximately hori: zontal plane. This results in the heavy part of the wheel moving in or out with relation to the vehicle in an approximately horizontal plane, perpendicular to the kingpin; the wheel spindle oscillating in this plane. The tendency is to cause the dynamic center of mass of the heavy part of the wheel to move outwardly o'r inwardly until it is in a plane'with relation to which the mass of the wheel is in equilibrium. By adding equal weights to opposite 'sides of the wheel upon opposite sides ofthe spindle, as indicated at 3 I and 32, in the. plane indicated by. the center of thegajuge line 35, placed on the'tire'by the marker 34, and in the amount indicated by the scale I3, it is possible to., bring the wheel intojdynamic balance so ,thatthe wheel will not wobble when spun rapidly. As shown in Fig; '7, these weights arejattach'ed to the rim of the wheel and, being equaLin amount and equally distant from the spindle, they do not disturb the static balance of hewheel. V,

While we have referred herein-to the use of this device in connection with vehicle'axle's, it will be understood that that term is used in a broad sense, since it ,is possible to use this apparatus equally well with a vehicle having a knee action type of suspflnsi'on, and the word. axle must therefore beunderstood as comprising that type of construction, and it will of course be understood that the specificldescription of structurei'set forthrabove may be departed from .withoutdeparting from the spirit) of this invention as disclosed in this specification and as defined in the appended claims.

Having now described our invention, we claim:

1. A wheel balance checking apparatus comprising a heavy base adapted to be placed :on a floor adjacent a wheel supported on a vehicle axle spindle, a standard rising from said base and supporting a graduated sector in a substantially horizontal position laterally of said wheel, a pivot member connected to said sector, and an indicator arm pivotally mounted on said pivot member to swing in a substantially horizontal direc tion with its indicating end in proximity to the graduations of the sector, the opposite end of the arm projecting in the'opposite direction from the pivot member and adapted to be placed in contact with the end of the spindle of said wheel, said sector being rigidly connected to said standard, the standard being vertically adjustable whereby to adjust the short arm into horizontal alignment with the center of the end of the spindle.

2. A structure as defined by claim 1 having a supporting arm projecting from said sector in a direction approximately parallel to the lateral face of the wheel, and a marking element carried by said arm and adjustable lengthwise thereof whereby it may be so placed as to place a mark on the lateral wall of the wheel when it is spun about its spindle.

3. In a motor vehicle wheel balance checking device, a supporting standard weighted at its base and adapted by reason of its construction to stand substantially vertically at the side of a wheel supported in a raised position upon its spindle, a support connected to the upper end of said standard, a pivot member carried by the support and extending approximately perpendicularly thereto, an indicator arm pivotally mounted on said pivot member and adapted to swing thereabout in a substantially horizontal direction, said arm projecting in two directions from said pivot member and extending unequally in opposite directions from said pivot, the shorter end of the indicator arm extending into contact with the spindle of the wheel, a supporting member secured to said standard and projecting therefrom in proximity to the wheel being checked and approximately parallel thereto, a marking element carried by said supporting member, and a graduated member carried by said support in proximity to the indicator arm for cooperation 4 therewith.

4. Mechanism for checking wheel balance comprising, in combination, a supporting unit having an upstanding standard, laterally extending supporting means on the upper end of the standard, a lever pivotally connected to the supporting means and swingable in a substantially horizontal direction'in proximity to said supporting means, said lever having an arm projecting from its pivotal connection to the standard into position to contact the end of the axle spindle, and gauge means carried by said laterally extending supporting means for cooperation with said lever in indicating the amount of weight to be added to a wheel to reduce wheel unbalance substantially to zero.

5. Mechanism for checking wheel balance comprising, in combination, a supporting unit having an upstanding standard, laterally extending supporting means connected to the upper end of the standard, a lever pivotally connected to the supporting means and swingable in a substantially horizontal direction in proximity to said supporting means, said lever having an arm projecting from its pivotal connection to the standard into position to contact the end of the axle spindle, gauge means carried by said laterally extending r supporting means for cooperation with said lever in indicating the amount of weight to be added to a wheel to reduce wheel unbalance substantially to zero, an arm extending from said standard approximately parallel to the medial plane of the wheel being checked, and a marker carried by said arm, said marker being positioned adjacent the Wheel and adapted to place a mark on the side of the wheel when it is spun rapidly during a checking operation.

LE ROY V. JACOBSEN.

GILBERT G. GO SLINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Catalano Feb. '1, 1939 

